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January 25, 2005

Patents in Iraq - Good or Bad?

I was immediately intrigued when I came across Iraq's New Patent Law, published by Grain.

When former Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) administrator L. Paul Bremer III left Baghdad after the so-called "transfer of sovereignty" in June 2004, he left behind the 100 orders he enacted as chief of the occupation authority in Iraq. Among them is Order 81 on "Patent, Industrial Design, Undisclosed Information, Integrated Circuits and Plant Variety." This order amends Iraq's original patent law of 1970 and unless and until it is revised or repealed by a new Iraqi government, it now has the status and force of a binding law.  With important implications for farmers and the future of agriculture in Iraq, this order is yet another important component in the United States' attempts to radically transform Iraq's economy.

While the article is politically charged and expresses clear opposition to plant patents in Iraq, it contains commentary that is concise and easy to understand.

For more information on patenting plants and living matter in the international arena, check out the OKJOLT (Oklahoma Journal of Law and Technology) Biotechnology Project, which features numerous articles, including three by our very own Katrina McClatchey.

  • The Impact of Novartis on the European Patent Convention's Exception to Patentability for "Plant Varieties" (html) (word) (pdf)
  • The Effect of the "Onco-Mouse" Decisions on the Exception to Patentability for "Animal Varieties" Under the European Patent Convention (html) (word) (pdf)
  • The European Patent Office and the European Patent: An Open Avenue for Biotechnologists and "Living Inventions" (html) (word) (pdf)


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Posted by Douglas Sorocco at 01:06 PM.
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